The movie: Standing Still The director: Matthew Cole Weiss The stars: Jon Abrahams, Colin Hanks, Mena Suvari, James Van Der Beek, Lauren German, Amy Adams, Ethan Embry
The old saying goes that you can find some good in anyone or anything if you look hard enough. It’s easy to spot what’s good about “Standing Still” — cast members Jon Abrahams (“Prime”), James Van Der Beek (“Dawson’s Creek”) and, in particular, an alluring young actress you probably have not heard of named Lauren German. Unfortunately, the bad stuff is more conspicuous.
Director Matthew Cole Weiss and scribes Matthew Perniciaro and Timm Sharp modeled their ensemble piece after Lawrence Kasdan’s “The Big Chill,” and ran into many of the same problems that plagued their overrated forebear. For one, there are so many characters that we never truly get to know any of them. Additionally, several key scenes designed to add weight to the proceedings are transparently contrived. At least half the cast is guilty of affecting the sort of overwrought emotion you’d expect to find on a daytime soap opera, and it doesn’t help matters that their dilemmas are so superficial. When did being twentysomething, hot, successful and unattached become such a cross to bear?
Pic finds a group of college pals reuniting in a Hollywood Hills manse for a wedding. The alcohol flows freely and bedlam ensues as old hurts are exposed while new romances bud. The gang is a mishmash of types, most interesting among them Jennifer (German) the disenchanted former lover of the bride-to-be who sets her sights on the serially lovelorn actress Lana (Mena Suvari). Van Der Beek is delightful too as a narcissistic alcoholic (yet strangely lovable) actor who just signed on for the lead in a “metaphysical western.” On the flip side, “Standing Still” could have done without Colin Hanks’ sleazy Hollywood agent (really, does anyone OUTSIDE the business give a crap about these guys?) and Ethan Embry’s hyperkinetic children’s show host — intended comic relief that relieves every scene of comedy.
